Gamersledge Review – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – “0-8-4”NeoSapianGamersledge Review – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – “0-8-4”
What’s this?
So here we are again, already at week two of AoS with Episode 102: 0-8-4 .
This episode picks up right at the end of “Pilot” with the team heading out to investigate an 0-8-4 (Pronounced “oh”-eight-four). Without getting into spoilerville, an 0-8-4 is an item of unknown origin (the last one was a hammer 😉 ). This one happens to be in South America, so the team heads to Peru to check it out. Playing off of the “We aren’t exactly a team” line from episode 1, things get hairy when the team can’t figure out how to work together.
Storywise, I personally liked it. 0-8-4 was a bit stereotypical, and “issue of the week” but this is in many ways pilot part 2. Also there was story arc progression, character progression and a couple of nice surprises and revelations. We learn more about Agent May “The Cavalry”, basic of why Fitz-Simmons are here (aside from Coulson recruiting them) and the other characters continue to develop as well.
The Cavalry
The episode has several references again to the MCU. One that I didn’t notice in episode 1, is the Fitz-Simmons ornithopter probe’s are in Iron Man’s color scheme, and their workdesk is very reminiscent of a certain eccentric, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist’s. The callsign of the base, 6-1-6, is a comic reference to the primary Marvel comic universe. A hammer, Captain America and several other references to the events of the movies are made early on. There is even a direct rip off from Serenity in the episode that had me laughing out loud. These touches make it obvious where we are, but probably need to drop off before it gets to the point of being obnoxious (Like Kevin Sorbo continually being compared to a Greek god in Andromeda(What you don’t get that reference(Kevin Sorbo played Hurcules in…(just Google it if you are curious 😉 ))))
Agents on a PLANE!
The pacing was much improved over the first episode. The story seemed to flow and there was a definite point to everything. I have heard some complaints about Simmons acting, but I don’t find it to be off. Aside from Coulson everyone is still feeling out the skin of their characters. Clark Gregg has been working with Coulson for years now, and it is a comfortable place for him. The new characters are coming along. Chloe (Skye) does need to find her groove though. Like how Michael Shanks had to figure out how to distinguish himself from James Spader’s Daniel Jackson, Chloe need to stop trying to be Eliza Dushku. Or at least that is how it feels to me. Her character does shine in this episode, though I am trying to figure out if there is a deeper reason to her not asking some obvious questions (that she shouldn’t have a clue on) or if that just helps keep the story moving.
IT’s not an episode without Ward violence 🙂
Visually the episode was outstanding again. The show has some skilled folks behind the camera, lining up the frames, and utilizing FX that are not quite movie level, but still pretty darn good. I really don’t have much else to say on this. The plane makes for a great set. It has a familiar setting to Serenity, though I don’t know if it is all one set…I kinda don’t think it is. The soundtrack to the episode is sublime, fits in perfectly. I had to really pay attention to it to notice it, and that is a great compliment, it’s that organic.
Overall 0-8-4 was a great episode, I feel was great. Yeah, there was a little bit of an “After school special” feeling to an aspect of the story, but it was needed. Now that we have all the opening is taken care of, we can see where the show is going. I anticipate there will still be an “incident of the week” format, but there will be arc well woven into the fabric. I have heard that some folks have issues about the lack of super heroes in the show. The show isn’t about super heroes, its about keeping situation from getting to the point where a super is needed. I am fairly certain we will see super powered good and bad guys, but it isn’t about them. I know this may be disappointing to some, but give the show a chance. I am really looking forward to next week. This episode, 0-8-4 rates a 9 out of 10 fish tanks.
*************LEVEL 7 ACCESS ONLY SPOILERS AHEAD********************
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SLJ slumming it on TV in his role as Nick Fury.
“Really? Really Caulson?” Nick muthalovin’ Fury in Episode 2. I couldn’t believe it. Those two are so comfortable in their roles, it just flows naturally. Fish tanks….is that a Next Generation thing? This is an amazing tie in to the movies and teases people that anything could happen at any time in this show.
Hydra, tie-in to Captain America or hint to who the big bad is? I still think AIM.
“They don’t need me, they need time” Forshadowing?
“It’s a magical place.” Ok so either it is some sort of keyphrase response to ensure the programming/memoryblock/whatever is intact, or another theory is that it is a side effect of the actual “magic” used to resurrect him. I am going with keyphrase.
Always read the safety card.
The big reveal here is Skye. Rising Tide is more than just her. And it really WAS her plan to get caught and infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.. So that SIM card she grabbed in Pilot is for her to stay in touch with her group. Is it possible Rising Tide is a front for AIM or Hydra? Will she end up betraying her team, or siding with them? And Ward is now going to take her on as his Padawan learner. Curse your sudden and inevitable betrayal? And Hula dancer….I get the feeling that is going to come back sometime.
May clicked that toggle switch with a satisfying click in the cockpit reminding me of Wash. I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. The pop-up concussion bomb was a CLEAR rip off of, well himself. That is almost identical to the device Simon used to rescue River in the beginning of Serenity.
I don’t want to do a full plot summary/review because I want folks to watch the show, but if folks really want a more compete summary let me know in the comments and I will work on that.
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Make sure to check out the Review of AoS’ Pilot here!
No comments but a 400% increase in “likes”. Oh you silly Internet people! I guess I distorter to explicitly solicit your thoughts…just beware spoilers because we have no tags in the comments section to hide them!
A) Yeah, there seems to never be a solid correlation between traffic and comments. Don’t sweat it! This write-up is great.
B) That said? I thought this episode was pretty craptacular. It suffered (of course in my opinion) from that tragic series trait. You know, the recapitulation of the pilot. Didn’t we just spend an hour going GOLLY GEE, THEY’LL BE A TEAM YET!, only to have to suffer through it again this episode? Only done really, really poorly? Complete with obvious reveals like the Lady as Bad Guy? And the Eventual Team Bonding?
It felt pretty rote, but whatever. It’s only one episode. The great thing / horrible thing about network television is that you have 20+ episodes to dawdle/find your footing.
Fair enough. It wasn’t anything ground breaking, and I suppose I probably set my rating for ep 1 too high so I have a bit of an inflation problem. I really looked at this as Part 2 of the Pilot. I don’t know why networks frown so frownily on expanded pilots, but they do. So yeah, we will still have a bit of team tension, but I hope the overly overt stuff is gone. Guess I just look at it as a gate that had to be gone through (Every comic book team ever) and now we can get on with things. I did think the pacing was markedly better, which was a major concern with me. The characters/actors have their own to come into yet, but that isn’t unusual this early in a series….a little unusual for Whedon though.
Though I see this playing out a lot like a capes book, which you have largely been steering away from. You have any concerns this will impact your potential enjoyment of the show? Also enter your score up above. Temper this silly child like giddiness over this show with your scores!!!!
Yeah, that’s a great point. It definitely felt like the second part of the pilot, but I thought the first part had set things up well. I agree that it’s definitely a gate that has to be gone through. EVEN THOUGH all of my defenses of the original pilot’s pacing was that it was simply “pilot pacing” and some people were all “pfft, whatever.” (Not looking in your direction but definitely looking in your direction.)
I’m actually quite content with a capes book/a monster of the week-type television show. If AoS can entertain me as much as Fringe did, I’ll be very, very excited. My main complaint was that this episode felt so lifeless on top of the perfunctory nature. All the acting critiques I’ve read about the pilot manifested themselves in this episode for me.
This isn’t a condemnation of the show or anything. I’m going to be looking forward to next Tuesday none the less. It’s just that it felt like quite the come-down from the pilot for me.
(Rating done! Cool feature I didn’t even really comprehend.)
Yeah – it’s kinda like the rottentomatoes.com user rating vs the meta rating. I think it is a pretty sweet feature of this theme, and hope it gets used more.
Yeah…I know…As long as the pacing resolves itself quickly all is well 😀
Ward needs to start developing or he will quickly enter broken record land, and like I said about Skye, she needs to stop trying to channel Eliza. Those will make significant shifts.
I have enjoyed the show though. Maybe all the references and geeking out is rose tinting it a bit, but hey, the whole family can watch, and i just completely respect the scope of what they are trying to do.
I am with Neo in that I thought it was a solid episode, and I felt the pacing was better. I’m with Caffeine in that the acting didn’t hold up for me. The missus had the reaction I think most of America had — “Where are the superheroes?” I don’t think anyone will understand what SHIELD is for a while — how they’re the normal folks who have to live with and in the shadow of superheroes. I actually can’t believe they pulled out (see spoiler tag) for episode 2. PS, don’t know if you noticed or not Neo, but either right before or right after he uses the Simon bomb, I’m fairly sure Ward says ‘Serenity.’ I’m going to watch the episode again today, will respond.
Great write-up!
I checked the ep and didn’t hear it, but you may have better ears than I!